(Left image) John Pittar, Leigh Potter, Dr Samantha Holdsworth, and Dame Bronwen Holdsworth are pictured in front of the Mātai MRI Modular in 2020. (Right image) Dr Samantha Holdsworth and John Pittar are pictured in Ruma Maungarongo of the new Mātai campus, where John was presented with his farewell gifts, after his final Board of Trustees Meeting. 

We announce with gratitude and respect the retirement of John Pittar from his role as Mātai Chair of the Board of Trustees. John's dedication and leadership have been instrumental in achieving our goals and the success we enjoy today. From the beginning, John has been with us every step of the way.

During his tenure, John played a key role in securing crucial funding, greatly benefiting our research and community. His dedication and commitment have strengthened Mātai, making it a more resilient organisation. To honour John, we presented him with a beautiful 'diffusion tensor MRI' picture from our MRI scanner, and a toki pounamu symbolising leadership. We wish John all the best in his retirement and are confident that the strong foundations he helped build will continue to support Mātai in the future.

Professor Brett Cowan will commence as Chairman of the Board of Trustees.

Thanks to a generous donation from the Legacy of Shirley Cooper via the Perpetual Guardian Foundation, Mātai is able to extend the FREE global standard prostate cancer diagnosis pathway to more men in Tairāwhiti!

The late Tuta Ngarimu's legacy is one of strength and compassion, inspiring all who knew him. His commitment to helping others find their path to recovery has transformed countless lives. This month, we celebrated Tuta's birthday and the profound impact he made among the Methamphetamine Recovery Study at Mātai. Hari huringa tau e Tuta.

As we bid farewell to Molly Para, we want to extend our deepest gratitude for her incredible dedication and hard work that made the opening of our building a tremendous success. Molly, alongside Dave Papa, has been with us from the very beginning. Molly poured her heart and soul into ensuring our opening event went smoothly, working tirelessly and liaising with local schools to showcase stunning artwork in our building. She also organised a wonderful evening at Mātai, complete with a band and karaoke, where our kaumātua enjoyed dancing the night away.

Tōnui Collab put on a wonderful afternoon tea for our 466 Childers Road whānau. It is so awesome to share a space with local STEM legends, as they inspire our rangatahi, a key aspect that Mātai is all about.

Visit the Tōnui website: https://www.tonuicollab.com/
Find them on social media:  https://www.facebook.com/TonuiCollabhttps://www.instagram.com/tonuicollab/

We are thrilled to share that our Chief of Operations, Leigh Potter and Radiologist, Dr Daniel Cornfeld recently spent an inspiring few days at Stanford University, engaging with members of their medical physics, radiology, neuroscience, and electrical engineering teams. This visit provided us with valuable insights into new radiology procedures and clinical innovations. Special thanks to Rachelle Bitton, Itamar Terem, and Don Vaughn, for sharing their knowledge and expertise. Such collaborations are vital as we continue to push the boundaries of medical research and technology at Mātai.

(Left) Dr Samantha Holdsworth chaired the Royal Society's "Pulsing Brain" meeting in the UK, which led to numerous opportunities for science exchange and collaboration. (Middle) She was thrilled to then spend the day with Mātai collaborator Associate Professor Flavio Dell'Acqua at King's College London, where she gave an invited talk on amplified MRI and ultra-high contrast MRI. (Right) It was wonderful for her to catch up with colleagues at Stanford University, California, where they gathered at the Dutch Goose. 

Tu Wairua, a kaupapa Māori research initiative developing psychedelic assisted therapy (PAT) to help treat methamphetamine substance use disorder (SUD) will commence therapeutic dosing this August. The research, centered at Rangiwaho Marae, has involved a number of wananga at the Marae and includes a number of collaborators. 
"Mātai is thrilled to join forces with Rua Bioscience and other partners in the Tū Wairua collaboration. By combining our expertise in research and technology, we can unlock new insights into the therapeutic potential of indigenous psilocybe varieties." Dr Patrick McHugh, Mātai Community Liaison. 

The Methamphetamine Recovery study, initiated at Mātai in early 2023 and supported by the Fred Lewis Enterprise Foundation, has completed its scanning phase. This pilot project aimed to explore brain and heart recovery in individuals who started abstinence. Participants underwent initial scans at the start of their abstinence, followed by scans at 1, 4, and 10 months to monitor changes in brain and heart health. The team is now analysing the images to understand recovery trajectories, which could inform better rehabilitation strategies for those recovering from methamphetamine addiction. A farewell session was held to thank participants for their essential contributions to the study.

Mātai is proud to work with Neurofanos, a pioneering AI-driven neuronavigation tool, in collaboration with researchers and neurosurgeons from Auckland Hospital and The University of Auckland (ABI, CBR, FMHS). We're thrilled that Neurofanos has been selected by the German-New Zealand Chamber of Commerce as New Zealand's nominee for the Future AI-Startup Pitch Award at APK 2024.

This prestigious competition, hosted by the Asia-Pacific Conference of German Business, is recognising startups excelling in artificial intelligence. Following the results of the next round, Neurofanos will represent New Zealand, competing with top startups from the Asia-Pacific region for a chance to present in front of over 800 business leaders in New Delhi this October.

We extend our heartfelt congratulations to the entire Neurofanos team for this achievement. Your innovation and hard work have made us immensely proud. Best of luck as you move forward in the competition!

Image: Neurofanos co-founder Dr Hamid Abbasi accepting the award. 

Explore the revolutionary ultra-high contrast MRI technique (dSIR) led by Professor Graeme Bydder and Paul Condron. The latest paper highlights dSIR's remarkable ability to detect previously unseen changes in brain white matter, particularly in Post-Insult Leukoencephalopathy Syndromes (PILS), such as concussions. The "whiteout sign" identified by dSIR serves as a distinct marker of extensive white matter changes. With up to 10x the contrast of traditional MRI, dSIR offers promising potential for early diagnosis and improved treatment tracking.

Nearly half of the world's population experience a mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI)/concussion at some point in their lives. Recent findings using a new Ultra-High Contrast (UHC) MRI technique, divided subtracted inversion recovery (dSIR), are a major leap forward in the ability to detect and understand the underlying changes to the brain after traumatic injury.

A new paper led by Associate Professor Mangor Pederson at AUT, with first author Mayan Bedggood, explores the use of advanced MRI techniques (MRI T2 relaxometry) as a potential objective biomarker for mTBI/concussion. Researchers found that MRI T2 relaxometry can detect subtle changes in brain fluid content, indicating possible neuroinflammation. This finding could aid in diagnosing mTBI/concussion and developing personalised treatment plans. Mātai is thrilled to have collaborated with AUT on this project. The team has been working on understanding brain injury mechanisms, which could lead to tailored management and treatments for concussion.

Umayal Venkatasamy is a researcher and former Computer Science Lecturer with over nine years of experience in computer science education. Currently a PhD student at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, her thesis is on the 'Detection of Multiple Sclerosis using Artificial Intelligence Techniques', which focuses on using deep learning to detect, quantify, and predict Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in its early stages through MR imaging. Her expertise encompasses artificial intelligence, machine learning, data science, and image processing, with a particular emphasis on the application of these disciplines in medical imaging. Umayal is supervised by Dr Catherine Shi (Mātai Senior Research Fellow), Associate Professor Alan Wang (University of Auckland), and Dr Samantha Holdsworth (University of Auckland & Mātai).